Ghost in the shell

MPAA rating: Not rated. Suggested 17+. Mature content includes graphic violence, language, and brief nudity. Parental discretion advised.In 2029 a female cybernetic government agent and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of "The Puppet Master", a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. Together, with her fellow agents from Section 9, they embark on a high-tech race against time to capture the omnipresent entity.

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I had been looking forward to watching this movie for a while. So after watching the live remake I thought it was a good time to give it a go. Sadly I found the movie pretty dated and a lot of the storyline difficult to follow - given this source material I now think that the live remake did a pretty good job trying to pull it together.

A 'ghost' or a cybernetic brain within a 'shell' or an augmented human body made completely from mechanical parts. The protagonist is Major Motoko Kusanagi, a special AI cop taking on crime in section 9 of Japan's New Port City. She has been tasked with executing an overseas ambassador to stop another ghost from defunctioning. The Puppetmaster, who is the main antagonist, manipulates innocent people into stealing from the gov. through ATM machines. He also hacked into a manufacturing company and stole a shell, but it later gets found by the police when a truck driver runs over it, mistaking it for a human woman. When being interrogated the shell claims to be the Puppetmaster (P.M) and asks to be put in a parliamentary sanctuary because he is a conscious being. Suddenly the P.M. is taken by his invisible savior. Kusanagi and her back-up shortly after pursue them and find the origins of the P.M. and his connection to the section 6 police force. Major Motoko is faced in deadly combat with a tank. Soon her companion Batou saves her by blocking section 6 from hurting her (because they want to cover up the whole P.M. project) conscious and connecting her with the P.M.'s psyche. Luckily Motoko Kusanagi is fine and after learns about how the P.M. started out just like her, an AI who ponders about their own state of mind, and they merge. When the main character wakes up it is in a new body, a child's, it is in Batou's hiding residence away from the gov. This new combination of the two AI entities leaves to explore the rest of the world. Bearing a lot of similarities with the neo-noir classic Akeria and the famous American film Robocop, this movie hit it out of the park. But the only problem was that the character didn't seem to worry as much about her final battle with an enemy as strong as her. However, the fact that throughout most of the film it kept a consistency with how the protagonist was constantly questioning her own purpose. This was very relatable to me during the time I was watching it.
- @Florence of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library

Great movie!
This is a stylish exploration of man's identity as consumerism completes it's domination of individuals via cybernetic augmented upgrades.
A mysterious hacker's mind control of people's (cyber)brain technology erodes The Major's belief in her own existence as the case reveals the culprit might not even be human... and offers her a way to expand beyond her doubt to a new insight.
Powerful soundtrack, cutting-edge (90s) computer graphics augmented animation, excellent character designs and backgrounds. There is also a rebuilt version, but I haven't seen that.
The movie's story is a cypher, exploring a society and characters North American television is still mining for recent TV shows as CSI: Cyber, Intelligence (2014), Scorpion, Quantico...

The best way to enjoy is to view it as a foreign-language version of Miami Vice with hackers and tech/weapons replacing smugglers and drugs. ;)
The two follow up series and movies fit well as sequels and the recent series and movie are good prequels, and blend the differences in style and voice acting between the original movie and the rest well.

With the 2017 real action remake coming in march, I thought it would be a good time to get watching the original. My initial thought after the movie was that it was a solid, matrix-y feeling thrill ride. The techno gadgets, concepts and visuals are all really cool. Although 80 minutes is a short time, it was perfect and didn't feel rushed in this movie. 8/10, star taken off for lackluster, anti-climatic ending, and another taken off for not explaining the concepts, plot twists and confusing material well.

It says the library has 9 copies of this DVD, but when you click "View Availability Details" you find that they are all lost, missing, being traced, except for one single copy. I just borrowed that copy, and it's so badly scratched it's unplayable. This is one of the most important, famous, respected anime films ever made -- the library should buy a new copy.

theorbys
Dec 27, 2011

One of the best animes ever and the second film is as good or better. Even the Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex tv episodes are excellent, although I did not like the 3rd one nearly as much as the first two. In short, many many hours of great, consistent, high quality anime start here.

lasertravis
Jul 25, 2011

This is one of my all time favorite anime. Along with Ninja Scroll and Akira, this was one of the very first anime I ever watched. I feel like it set the bar pretty high. Great action sequences and annimation. Mass amounts of nudity and ample graphic violence make this definitely not for children. If you like anime and haven't seen this, you should check it out.